Subdomain vs Subdirectory SEO Impact

Understanding how subdomains affect SEO for the main domain, particularly for lattice.uptownhr.com vs uptownhr.com.

Key Takeaway

Subdomains are treated as separate sites by Google. Content on lattice.uptownhr.com will not directly improve rankings for uptownhr.com.

How Google Treats Subdomains

Subdomains: Separate Entities

lattice.uptownhr.com  ←→  uptownhr.com
   (separate site)         (separate site)

Separate crawl budgets
Separate authority/trust scores
Backlinks don’t transfer between subdomain and main domain
Each treated as distinct website

Subdirectories: Unified Site

uptownhr.com/lattice  ←  same site  →  uptownhr.com
    (inherits authority)              (benefits from all content)

Shared crawl budget
Shared domain authority
All content contributes to main domain rankings
Backlinks benefit the entire domain

SEO Comparison

Factor	Subdomain (`lattice.uptownhr.com`)	Subdirectory (`uptownhr.com/lattice`)
Domain Authority	Builds separately	Contributes to main domain
Backlinks	Don’t transfer to main	Boost main domain authority
Content Value	Isolated	Improves main domain rankings
Crawl Budget	Separate allocation	Shared with main site
Brand Association	Weaker connection	Stronger brand unity

When Subdomains Make Sense

Despite SEO drawbacks, subdomains are appropriate for:

Distinct Products/Services
- Example: blog.company.com vs shop.company.com
- Different user experiences and purposes
Technical Separation
- Different tech stacks (e.g., main site on WordPress, docs on Astro)
- Different deployment pipelines
Geographic/Language Targeting
- uk.company.com vs us.company.com
Security/Access Control
- Internal tools: admin.company.com

For Lattice Documentation

Current Setup: `lattice.uptownhr.com`

Pros:

Technical flexibility (separate Astro deployment)
Independent updates (docs don’t affect main site)
Clear separation (research vs portfolio/business)

Cons:

Content doesn’t boost uptownhr.com SEO
Backlinks to research won’t help main domain
Builds authority separately

Alternative: `uptownhr.com/lattice`

Pros:

All research content improves uptownhr.com rankings
Better SEO consolidation
Backlinks benefit main domain

Cons:

Requires unified deployment pipeline
Main site must handle Astro routing
More complex architecture

Strategic Decision Framework

Choose subdomain if:

SEO for main domain is not primary goal
Technical separation is important
Content is truly distinct from main site purpose

Choose subdirectory if:

You want research content to boost main domain SEO
Main site benefits from increased content volume
Willing to integrate deployment pipelines

Mitigation Strategies for Subdomains

If using lattice.uptownhr.com:

Cross-linking
- Link from main site to subdomain (signals relationship)
- Link back from subdomain to main site
Consistent Branding
- Similar design language
- Same company/author name
- Shared navigation elements
Schema Markup
- Use Organization schema on both
- Indicate relationship in structured data
Social Signals
- Share content from both domains
- Build separate but related audience

Recommendation for `lattice.uptownhr.com`

If goal is personal brand/SEO growth: Consider uptownhr.com/research or /lattice instead.

If goal is research documentation with technical flexibility: Subdomain is fine, but understand SEO is independent.

Resources

Google’s guidance on site structure
SEO best practices for content organization